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Changing Trends of Mothers’ Active and Passive Childcare Times

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Abstract

This paper explores how mothers’ allocation of types of time with children and the determinants of this allocation have changed during 1981–1997 in the United States, using Time Use Longitudinal Panel Study and Family Interaction, Social Capital and Trends in Time Use. Data reveal that active time with children has increased for the case of educated working mothers with young children. Estimations also provide evidence that although different uses of time are substitutes; active time is less sensitive than passive. Moreover, the relationship between active and passive time with children has changed over time.

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Notes

  1. There is increasing evidence that investment during the early stages of child development is critical. Scores on cognitive tests taken during adolescent years are correlated with adult labor-market outcomes (Cameron and Heckman 1998; Keane and Wolpin 1997). Besides, there exists a correlation between test scores measured as early as age seven and labor-market success (Currie and Thomas 1999; Todd and Wolpin 2007). The effects of maternal employment and type of child care on children’s ability are negative and sizeable (Bernal 2009; Bernal and Keane 2008).

  2. Time Use Longitudinal Panel Study, 1975–1981 (ICPSR 9054): The data used in this paper were made available by the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research. The data for TIME USE LONGITUDINAL PANEL STUDY, 1975–1981 were originally collected by F. Thomas Juster, Martha S. Hill, Frank P. Stafford and Jacquelynne Eccles Parsons of the Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan. Neither the collector of the original data nor the Consortium bear any responsibility for the analyses or interpretations presented here.

    1998–99 Family Interaction, Social Capital, and Trends in Time Use Study (ICPSR 3191): Robinson, John P., Suzanne M. Bianchi, and Stanley Presser. FAMILY INTERACTION, SOCIAL CAPITAL, AND TRENDS IN TIME USE (FISCT), 1998–1999: ICPSR version (3191). College Park, MD: University of Maryland Survey Research Center, 1999. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research, 2001.

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Acknowledgments

We acknowledge the financial support from the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (Grant SEJ2009-11117/ECON) and form the Junta de Andalucía (Grant P07-SEJ-03261).

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  1. Dpto. Teoría e Historia Económica Facultad de CC.EE. y EE., Universidad de Granada, Campus Cartuja s/n, 18071, Granada, Spain

    Ana I. Moro-Egido

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Correspondence to Ana I. Moro-Egido.

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Moro-Egido, A.I. Changing Trends of Mothers’ Active and Passive Childcare Times. J Fam Econ Iss 33, 11–23 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10834-011-9265-0

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